Scandalous Small Town Secrets
by Truthful nomad
Summary: Hannah and Castiel live in a town divided by race- angel, human, demon, monster. Hannah's wealthy angel family cares about reputation and doesn't want her to be associated with the rebel Castiel whose family chooses to live on the Human side of town.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Hannah lives in a small little town full of scandals, gossip, judgemental, pressure, and deep-seated racial divides between angels, demons, humans, and the other creatures that reside in town and in the surrounding forest. After her sister's suicide, Hannah is thrust into the middle of the town's turmoil as she struggles to break free of her families pressures on her and find true love for the first time.

**Pairings**: Castiel/Hannah, Dean/Jo, Sam/Eileen, Gabriel/Balthazar, Anna/Rowena, Charlie/Ruby, Crowley/Meg, past Dean/Tessa, Past Castiel/Meg, past Castiel/genderswap Lucifer

**Warnings**: Suicide, drug use, depression, violence, crime, verbal abuse. Lots of angst! Also, this story deals with social issues including poverty, homelessness, and racial tensions.

"Tessa!" Naomi's commanding voice boomed in Hannah's head as she opened the front door and entered her home after a long day at school. She winced as her older sister shouted again, her voice echoing from the kitchen. Hannah should be used to it by now, but she hated the loud noise as it pounded through her skull.

As she set her book bag on the base of the staircase, she followed the sounds of pots and pans clattering around and the unpleasant aroma of over-salted meat and came into the kitchen where she found Naomi buzzing about. A sink full of dishes greeted her as she moved into the large spacious kitchen.

"Hannah," Naomi greeted indifferently. "Go get your sister, then come set the table." Hannah nodded but lingered in the doorway for a moment.

"Is Dad going to be home tonight?" she wanted to know, her face expressionless as she watched her sister go about preparing dinner. She had mixed feelings about her father being home that night- most of them negative. After all, she figured she and Tessa were in for a round of criticism about how their lives were going to amount to nothing. Hannah had only just started college and her younger sister Tessa was 17. Yet somehow they were both wasting their lives being teenagers.

Of course, it didn't help that Tessa was dating a man who was four years older than her. Hannah had warned her about it because she knew how bad it was going to be for her when their father found out. And of course, it all came to a head a week ago when Naomi reported that she'd seen Tessa kissing Dean near the campus.

Hannah turned and drifted out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, grabbing her book bag on her way up. She gazed out over the living area and sleek white architecture of her home as she ascended the stairs. White. That was probably the best way to describe her home. White and large. The walls were bare, no pictures denoting family adorned any part of it. A chandelier hung from the ceiling over the foyer leading towards the entrance.

They had lived here for a few years now, and this was easily one of the more luxurious homes in the small town. On a quiet, gated court surrounded by other expensive homes. Of course, this was an angel only neighborhood so one should expect it to be beautiful and luxurious. But Hannah knew her father preferred to keep the home immaculate and clean; he hired human maids and cleaners to keep it that way and erase any trace of evidence that a family lived here. Especially one as broken as the Vermuellen family.

Hannah stepped off the top stair and immediately began to feel uncertain. It was as if the air had suddenly changed. It was oddly quiet. She expected the sounds of her sister's obnoxious rave music to be pounded through her ears, but there was nothing. She inched down the hall, pausing only to toss her bag into her room before proceeding towards Tessa's door, which was cracked slightly ajar.

Knocking softly, Hannah couldn't shake the feeling of dread that seemed to descend upon her as she waited for Tessa's response. None. She knocked again. "Tessa?" she called softly before pushing the door opened.

The sight before her wasn't immediately registered. It was as if Hannah had to reset herself to process it. Tessa's book bag lay on the floor, its contents splayed on the floor, while Tessa herself lay atop her neatly made bed, silent and still. As Hannah neared the bed, she stopped short, her breath catching in her throat. Tessa's eyes were wide open, but they bore no life, no movement. Her hand dangled off the side of the bed, a bottle of pills laying on the floor beneath it.

"TESSA!" Hannah cried out as she rushed to her sister's side, shaking her desperately. "Wake up!" Her sister's body was cold, her eyes staring at the ceiling. Somehow she knew in her heart there was no use, but she tried anyway.

Naomi rushed into the room, no doubt startled by Hannah's cry. Seeing the scene, she gasped and quickly picked up a phone to call 911. Tears she didn't even remember shedding fell from Hannah's eyes as she fell back on her knees beside Tessa's bedside, staring at the still form, unwilling to believe the truth.

It didn't take long for the paramedics to arrive, but by then, Hannah had felt herself go numb. As they hauled Tessa out on a gurney, she caught sight of Tessa's opened diary and quickly grabbed it before Naomi, who frantically relayed instructions to the paramedics while simultaneously on the phone with their father, could see it.

Hannah didn't know what made her take the diary, or why she felt it was important to hide it from Naomi or her father, but she mindlessly stashed the black leather book in her own room before following the precession downstairs.

Later, Hannah found herself sitting outside on the front porch with Naomi while police searched their property. The flashing blue and red lights of police cars had attracted bystanders, and they all gathered across the street, trying to get a glimpse of anything. Hannah felt angry towards them. And at angels, because she knew they'd judge and spread rumors over what could have happened.

Angels were morally superior, self-entitled presence in this small town. They flaunted their wealth and power and were always eager to pass judgment on any of their ranks who didn't fit in. It was no secret that Tessa and Hannah both spent time in the human part of town and that they hung around humans and other races in school. Hannah could only imagine all the rumors that could be circulating already, and it made her sick.

"Did Tessa remove her grace?" Naomi murmured softly, bringing Hannah out of her thoughts. She glanced up at her sister as she crouched on the steps leading up to the front door.

"She would have had to if she wanted to do this," Hannah replied as if it should have been obvious. She thought about that. So Tessa had planned this. There weren't many ways to kill an angel who had grace, but without it, an angel was as vulnerable as any human.

At that moment, their father finally pulled up and rushed to his daughters, just as the sheriff approached. Hannah stiffened. She wasn't very fond of Michael, the town sheriff. An extremely powerful archangel, his ego, and pretentiousness were renown.

"We searched for her grace, we couldn't find it," Michael informed them. "Do any of you know why she may have done this?"

"It had to be that human boy," Naomi said with a disappointed sigh. "We warned her to stay away from him."

"Well I have heard of vampires in the seedier parts of town trading angel grace in some illicit black market," Michael told them. "They trick naive young angels into giving up their grace. I hope Tessa wasn't a victim of this."

"She always has been easily led astray," Hannah's father, Raphael admitted sadly. Hannah looked up at him in astonishment. "Naomi and I suspected that she was involved in some bad things, so I wouldn't be surprised."

"How can you blame her for this?" she demanded. "Tessa died father, don't you care?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Hannah," Raphael warned, fixing her with a firm glare. "My daughter just died, of course, I care about that. But I'm not going to overlook the fact that Tessa had some behavior problems. She was becoming rebellious, and I think it's because of all the humans she spent time with. Let that be a lesson to you, Hannah. You need to stick to your own kind."

Hannah couldn't take any more of this. Naomi and her father, their words echoed a common attitude she'd grown up around. Aristocratic and exclusive. Always quick to place blame on the misfits. She looked at Michael.

"Can I go back inside now?" she demanded. The archangel nodded.

"Yeah we don't see any evidence of foul play," he said. Hannah didn't bother to wait for her father or Naomi to say anything more, or to dismiss her, she just got up and hurried to her room, slamming the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

The next week seemed to pass in an endless parade of events. When an angel died, it was a big deal, at least to them. Hannah doubted Humans or Demons particularly cared about Tessa's death. Except perhaps Dean Winchester who, of course, had not permitted to attend any of the events. In fact, Hannah had not seen the Human at all since Tessa's death, although that couldn't be entirely his fault since Humans weren't allowed in areas that were designated as angel-only areas.

It still made Hannah angry as she dwelled on Dean's relationship with her sister as she walked through the hall of the small community college, her book bag slung across her shoulders as the tap of her heeled shoes echoed against the hard linoleum flooring. Her curled dark tresses bounced with each step as she kept a quick pace, wanting to get through her day quickly. Fellow students moved passed her in the halls, some glancing in her direction, curious expressions on their faces.

Normally, she'd grace them with a pleasant nod or smile, but not today. Today, her sister was gone, and she blamed everyone for it. She blamed her father, she blamed Dean Winchester, she blamed herself, she even blamed the people around her. She had been shooting glares at random people who caught her eye, for the audacity of looking at her. Though she knew when she first started college here that she'd get some stares, she was one of the only angels attending this Human college. But a Human wouldn't be able to tell an angel from one of their own, except for perhaps Hannah's ankle-length gray skirt, her long sleeve knit shirt, her grey blazer. For a forest town near the coast, her sophisticated clothing set her apart from humans as someone who was upscale, and few humans could afford such things, especially in this new era.

So, of course, she got looks and stares. Many harbored animosity towards her, for merely being an angel. Not that she could entirely blame them. Long ago, as Hannah had learned, the empty invaded Heaven. The angels were outnumbered and forced to abandon their celestial home. They arrived in exile to Earth where they took over. The country governments, the town governments, all forms of power and industry. Being the soldiers that they were, they quickly imposed order- their order- on the Humans.

Her father had justified it, saying that Humans lived in chaos, and it was the angel's sacred duty to govern them because they obviously didn't know how to govern themselves. Because Humans were chaos. They were dangerous children who needed to be controlled. So they were relegated to give up whatever power they ever had of their world, and now they had to live in the shadow of angels. For that was their place. They were allowed their own communities, for the most part, they were granted some autonomy, so long as they didn't step outside their bounds, bounds that angels had set for them.

Hannah felt guilty. Perhaps that was why Humans fascinated her so much and why she had begged her father to let her attend this school, even though she was more than qualified to attend an angel run university. She didn't know what to expect from the Humans, she didn't know how they would treat her, but she had to try. She just wanted to know what life was like in this other world she lived so close to yet had never seen. The battles, the skirmishes between angels and humans were long over by the time she was born.

She had been surprised when Raphael had easily given in to her. She had never been quite sure why he had shown such an uncharacteristic side by allowing her to even set foot in a Human community. All he had said was that perhaps it was time that angels looked in on Humans to make sure they were behaving properly. As if they were upstart children. That wasn't what Hannah had in mind in all, but if that's what it took to get her father to give in to her, she took it.

That was a year ago, and today, even the Humans were upsetting her. Hannah had barely enough time to breathe before she had been submerged in a whirlwind of events that had preceded Tessa's untimely death. And the whole thing reopened old wounds that had never quite closed. Since angels were generally considered immortal, it was often surprising when one of them died. Not that they couldn't also succumb to an untimely death, it was just much rarer, never expected as it was for a mortal race like Humans. Hannah had to wonder how Humans handled death. She could never cope with it being so frequent, such a constant thing in her life.

But because Raphael was a well-known presence in town, Zachariah, the town mayor, insisted on making Tessa's death public news and although Raphael, in an insincere attempt at modesty, tried to decline, he was easily convinced. So Hannah was dragged to a memorial service that was more of a show of wealth than a chance to say goodbye to her sister.

The whole ordeal was as painful to endure as the fact that Tessa was no longer there. The gnawing empty throbbing inside of her was hard to tolerate. For a species that rarely experienced death, Hannah's family had endured it twice. Hannah remembered the pain when her mother died. Her mother had been her idol, her inspiration, and she had been so suddenly taken from her. Her mother had gotten sick shortly after Tessa's birth. Or so Hannah had been told. Hannah was only two years old when her mother had died, but being an angel, she had grown up fast. By age two, an angel would have appeared to be a young human teenager. But even if her body had grown, her mind was still only two years old, and she had trouble understanding much, only that her mother had gone away.

Now, a week after Tessa's death, Hannah was struggling to find some normalcy in her life. She hadn't even had a chance to properly process her sister's death, why it happened, what it all meant. She was still getting used to it all and the blatant invasion of her families privacy during a time which should have been a time for mourning and robbed her of a chance to grieve properly.

"Hannah," Hannah had been about to step into the elevator when she heard her name being called from behind her. Turning around, her mind slowly returning to reality just as a familiar figure approached her. She immediately felt hostility towards him as he and his friend approached.

"I have nothing to say to you, Dean Winchester," she told him in a warning tone as she pressed the button again, feeling irritated that he had caused her to miss her elevator.

"Wait," Dean reached out to touch her on the shoulder, prompting her to turn around to face him again. She threw him a hard glare as gripped her book bag against her, resisting the urge to shove it in Dean's face. She noted his friend and was intrigued by the angelic glow surrounding him. Something only another angel could see, although his distinctive beige trench coat and blue-collar tie set him apart as being a bit too well dressed to be Human. At least, not a typical college-aged Human. His thick dark hair and brilliant cerulean blue eyes were worthy of attention as well as he met her gaze briefly.

"Why should I?" Hannah demanded, anger welling up inside of her at this man for daring to try to make excuses for hurting her sister. "You are the reason my sister is dead. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, I get that," Dean said, a guilt-stricken look on his face as he stood there holding his books. He donned a black leather jacket, jeans, and a head of short, light brown hair and distinctive green eyes. He took a deep breath before glancing at his friend. "This is Castiel Novak, by the way. Look can we go somewhere to talk? I just…" Dean trailed off, emotion evident in his voice as he glanced away for a moment to compose himself.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Castiel offered as he waited patiently for Dean to compose himself. "I heard about the memorial."

"I didn't see you there," Hannah replied shortly, feeling a pang of sympathy for Dean, and regretting her accusing words when it was clear he felt terrible already. "I thought Zachariah invited the whole angel community."

"Well I don't live in the angel part of town," Castiel explained as he held the elevator door opened for them all to get in, stepping inside once they were. "I live in the Human part. Angels… and I don't exactly get along."

Something about that intrigued Hannah. An angel who lived with Humans? Willingly? Who broke from tradition and regulations in a community that was so strictly segregated that they rarely came in contact with one another?

Dean took a deep breath and looked at Hannah, the mournful look on his face dissolved what anger she had for him. "We were heading to the cafeteria for some lunch. All I want is a chance to explain myself to Tessa's family. It won't take long, I promise."

Hannah sighed and nodded reluctantly. She stepped out of the elevator once it spilled them onto the top floor and followed the two men and soon found herself tucked away in a booth by the window in their college's tiny cafeteria, facing Castiel and Dean. This town was so small that the community college shared space with the local high school. So many students who graduated high school simply continued on in college forever, never entirely leaving it behind.

"Look I know I'm to blame for what Tessa did," Dean's words brought Hannah out of her silent musings, and she tensed, preparing herself inwardly for being forced to confront the reasons for Tessa's death. "I… cheated on her. The girl was… well, she isn't in my life anymore, and it was a terrible mistake that should have never happened. I just never thought Tessa would take it that far."

"She should have stayed away from you," Hannah replied, that familiar lump in her throat starting to grow as she thought about her sister, how heartbroken she must have been. She knew her father and Naomi had berated Tessa for her relationship with Dean, but she had no idea that infidelity had been a factor between them and the news hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Yeah. I'm poison; I get it..." Dean trailed off. "Look I know you probably don't want to believe this, but I loved Tessa. I'm not going to make excuses for what I did… what happened happened. I can't change it."

Hannah thought about that as she watched Dean ignore the bacon cheeseburger he had ordered. The emotion on his face was real, but she wasn't sure she could just let go of her feelings. Her sister was dead. And this Human was the reason for it. Or was he? Hannah tried to get that nagging feeling out of her head. The feeling that hadn't left her since the day Tessa had died. Something about her death didn't add up. It had been so sudden, yet she had to have been planning it. Hannah knew Tessa was troubled, but she couldn't believe that her sister would have just given up just because some human man had cheated on her.

"I haven't finished reading her diary," she admitted softly. "But so far, I know she talked about you a lot. She loved you too."

Dean was quiet for a moment, staring at his burger before getting up, "excuse me," he said before abruptly hurrying away, leaving Hannah alone with Castiel.

"He's been pretty hard on himself," Castiel offered softly, and Hannah lifted her eyes in his direction, meeting his deep blue eyes only briefly before looking away. Making eye contact with someone had always been difficult for her. "I know it doesn't help, but he blames himself."

"Why do you live with Humans?" Hannah asked, abruptly changing the subject as it was becoming harder for her to dwell on. "Have you and Dean Winchester been friends long?"

"Well, my brother's boyfriend owns a motel nearby," Castiel explained. "After my parents died, he and my sister moved me there. Dean and his brother Sam live in the junkyard behind the motel, so we grew together. You know, in an 'angels don't exactly grow up' sort of way, I suppose."

"Your parents died?" Hannah frowned. "How?" she was aware that she was probably prying, but she wanted to know.

"War," Castiel replied simply. "In heaven."

"I'm sorry," Hannah offered genuinely. War was one of the very limited ways an angel could die. And it's not as if the angels hadn't tried many times to get Heaven back from the empty. She felt sad that two angel soldiers had been killed and left Castiel and his siblings to fend for themselves alone on Earth surrounded by Humans.

A moment of silence passed between them in which Castiel seemed to study her as if trying to understand her. He cleared his throat. "Humans aren't so bad," he began, shrugging. "At least not once you get used to them. And neither are demons for that matter. I used to date one, in fact."

Hannah raised a brow, feeling more than a little surprised. "Demons?" she asked, she couldn't help but be a little put off by that. If angels interacting with Humans was barely tolerated, then demons were even less than. Hannah had never even met a demon. They lived in their own part of town, and Hannah was forbidden to go anywhere near it. She had heard that they were all deviants, that they were immoral, whatever that meant. Words like 'immoral' and 'unvirtuous' were used freely among angels to warn against unchecked depravity and inequity. But Hannah had often wondered what they meant by such things and if they were really so wrong.

"You tend to learn a lot more living with Humans than with angels," Castiel continued, gazing across the table at her. "Like friendship and loyalty. They don't exactly teach you those things in Angel school."

"This demon you dated," she asked cautiously, not quite ready to move on from that subject. "What happened to them?"

"Oh, she and I are still close friends," Castiel informed her. "Just… the romance part didn't work out. If you'd like, I could introduce you, her name is Meg, she's dating someone else these days, but we still spend time together. She and Dean are what you might call my 'besties' if that's the correct term."

"Maybe," Hannah offered reluctantly. If her father barely tolerated her being around Humans, Demons would undoubtedly be out of the question, but she couldn't deny that she was curious. She was curious about this life Castiel had. It felt adventurous, rebellious, and alluring. She'd never considered living with humans to be an option, but what if it could be? What if she could have that life too? Maybe that is what Tessa saw. She knew Tessa had spent a lot of time in this part of the neighborhood, but she heard Raphael's warning in the back of her mind, the advice he gave the day Tessa had died- you need to stick to your own kind.

"I'd imagine Raphael wouldn't approve," Castiel surmised, and Hannah sighed.

"You know my father," she said as she gazed down at the table.

"I may live with Humans, but I'm not completely oblivious about my own kind," Castiel pointed out. "Let's just say… I'm not a fan of the leadership in this town. Zachariah and Michael, mostly. That's why I tend to avoid the angel community."

Hannah couldn't help but smirk at that. "I'm not a fan of Michael either," she admitted. "But my father thinks he can do no wrong." That was an understatement, and there was some bitterness in her tone as she thought about Michael. It was no secret among angels that Raphael intended to marry Hannah off to Michael at some point. The only thing that held him back at this point was Hannah's refusal, and the fact that Michael hadn't liked that Hannah's mother was not an archangel. That hadn't stopped him from continuing to push the issue every chance he got.

"If you'd like to come, let me know," Castiel replied before getting up from the table. "No pressure or anything. But I promise there won't be too much depravity, at least not a whole lot." At that, he handed her a piece of paper with his phone number. "If you want to come, text me, I'll come get you."

Hannah nodded. She wasn't sure if she would attend this gathering, but she was sure that she wasn't going to tell her father about it. She didn't know how she'd fool him or Naomi, but she wanted to be there so she'd find a way. Castiel gave her a small smile and left, leaving her in the cafeteria to ponder her thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note**: Please take note of updated tags, including trigger warnings, on this fic.

A few days passed, and Castiel busied himself with organizing the brochure stand in the tiny motel lobby.

"Hey kiddo I'm heading out," Castiel turned to glance behind him as his brother finished gathering his belongings and grabbed his briefcase. "Don't worry about picking up Jack from school today; Balthazar will get him. And Randy should be here in about half an hour."

Castiel nodded his acknowledgment as Gabriel headed out the door leaving the younger angel alone. Castiel sighed as he settled in his seat behind the reception desk. He had a long day ahead of him. A long, dull, dreary day. He didn't mind pulling shifts at the tiny motel, he needed the work to support himself and Jack, but it certainly wasn't what he wanted to do with his life.

As he thought about what he cared about in life, he reached into the little cubby under the desk and pulled out his insect anatomy textbook and began reading for his next lesson. As he became absorbed in the lessons about insect evolution and physiology, he pictured himself in the middle of a jungle hunting for the most elusive insects and learning about them.

He was so absorbed in his studies that the chime of the door startled him. As he glanced up, he was surprised to see who was standing in front of the desk.

"Hannah," he stammered, quickly closing his book as the young dark-haired woman approached. Her eyes fluttered to his textbook before moving up to meet his.

"Insect anatomy?" she questioned curiously. Castiel smiled sheepishly at being caught with the book.

"Yes," he confirmed. "I'm sorry. I try to hide it; Humans are often unnerved by the existence of insects."

"But you like them?" Hannah raised a brow, not seemingly aware of how her sudden appearance had thrown Castiel completely into alert mode. He noted how her dark brown trusses danced about her face when she moved, how the thick bangs fell to her brows, hiding her forehead, creating an aura of mystery. Her large sapphire blue eyes enhanced the features of her face with her high cheekbones, oval-shaped face, long graceful neck, and smooth, creamy skin.

And of course, there was the distinct glow of angelic grace just beneath her skin which would only be visible to another supernatural being. Castiel had often taken steps to minimalize his own glow by always wearing long sleeve shirts. He couldn't hide everything, but fortunately for him, humans were unable to see it. But Hannah seemed to have not been concerned with covering her glow. She wore a long blue floral print maxi dress with a flowing hemline that flayed out around her hips and fell past her knees and had a scooped neckline and spaghetti straps.

"Yes," Castiel replied, getting back to her question. "All insects, but bees in particular. I want to be a melittologist; they study bees."

Hannah smiled shyly, and Castiel watched her, his gaze lingering long enough to cause some awkwardness between them. He cleared his throat and dropped his eyes, embarrassed. "Why are you in this part of town, Hannah?" he wondered. It was both an honest question and a request for an explanation. An explanation into why she had been unable to meet him the other day.

"I'm sorry about the other day," Hannah offered quickly. "I couldn't get away from my father and sister. They were hosting an event for the sheriff, and I was forced to attend. Not that I wanted to. My father is always hosting these boring affairs to make himself seem cultured and sophisticated to the other angels."

Castiel smiled. "I understand, but how did you get away today?"

"I told my father I had to work a double shift at the cafe where I work," she responded with a slight smirk. "I'm here because I thought about what you said before. About how you live with Humans and how they aren't the easily exploitable apes my father claims they are and how you've learned from them. My sister spent a lot of time here, and I'd like to know what she saw here. And maybe we can even see a demon."

Castiel was more than eager for a chance to escape the dull confines of the motel reception desk, but he hesitated. His brother and Balthazar wouldn't be happy if he abandoned the desk to be left unattended.

"I can close up for lunch," Castiel decided before quickly closing out the desk and leaving Gabriel and Randy, the other employee coming in for the day, a note. Then he locked up and ushered Hannah out of the lobby.

"Do you live here at this motel?" Hannah asked curiously as Castiel led her towards his small, bright yellow jeep. The car had been at the brunt of many jokes because it was so noticeable and it wasn't something Castiel had been fond of at first; he didn't like the idea of drawing attention to himself. But it had belonged to his sister before him and thus, had no payments associated with it so he couldn't complain.

"Yeah," Castiel confirmed. "It's kind of nice; I have my own motel room. My brother's boyfriend owns it, so I grew up here."

Castiel got in and waited for Hannah to do the same. He watched her for a moment as she buckled her seatbelt and shyly folded her hands into her lap, carefully avoiding eye contact. Castiel sensed the awkwardness between them. He tried to search for a way to lighten the mood.

"Would you like to listen to some music?" he offered as he flipped the radio on. He winced as Metallica's _Nothing else matters_ started blaring through the speakers a little louder than anticipated. Hannah started a little, and Castiel quickly decided against that route and turned off the music.

"Sorry," Castiel apologized as he quickly turned his attention to driving as he slowly backed out of the parking lot and out onto the street. "I'm a classic rock fan. Dean got me into it."

"Turn it back on," she urged to his surprise. "Just… not too loud." He smiled and complied, turning the music back on and turning it down. He gazed out in front of him as he drove down the broad avenue. This part of town wasn't the best. There were plenty of panhandlers, homeless people camped out in alleyways, and plenty of trash littering the gutters. Castiel worried about the impression Hannah would have of the place; she was used to being surrounded by wealth and comfort.

"Humans are resourceful," he explained as he noticed her watching people wandering back and forth on the sidewalks. "But it's still been difficult. Ever since the angels took over, it's been harder and harder in neighborhoods like this. And poverty breeds desperation so you should be careful."

She glanced at him, seeming to ponder his meaning. Castiel had lived in this neighborhood all of his life, he'd become part of it, but he knew that even he could be a target if he wasn't careful. Humans had every reason to be resentful of angels, and some had resorted to violence, and quite often, they weren't particularly choosy over their targets.

Castiel thought about that and glanced at Hannah in her maxi dress. She was trusting him to show her the neighborhood, but she was also in his care. She was unfamiliar with his world, and she would be trusting him to ensure that nothing happened to her.

After a while, they pulled into a small strip mall. There wasn't anything too remarkable about it- a few restaurants, a hair cut place, and of course, the comic store. As he parked the jeep, he reached back and grabbed a coat and handed it to her.

"To cover your angel glow," he explained. "Humans can't see it, but some of them have devices that detect it, you don't want to risk it."

Hannah complied, putting on the long beige trench coat that Castiel often kept in his jeep. It was a bit long on her, but it enveloped her well enough to dim the bluish aura that surrounded her.

"Where are we?" she asked as they got out of the jeep and Castiel led her towards the comic store.

"My friend Charlie owns this place," Castiel explained as he opened the door for her, the little chime above alerting anyone inside. "Your sister Tessa spent a lot of time here."

When they entered, they found rows and rows of comics, aisles of the board and tabletop games, and a large glass display counter full of tiny pewter miniature figurines of all varieties. The bubbly redhead hurried over to greet them, wearing a cheerful smile when she saw Castiel.

"Hey Cas," she greeted before noticing Hannah. She frowned slightly, a little unnerved by Hannah's presence.

"This is Hannah," Castiel explained, though from the look on Charlie's face, he knew she already knew that.

"_Cas_!" Charlie urged as she came around the counter and grabbed him by the arm and ushering him towards into the nearest aisle. "Like I don't know that's _Raphael's daughter!_ We got enough attention lately because of her sister."

"What about my sister?" Hannah asked curiously as she followed them down the aisle, easily overhearing Charlie's muffled voice. "What sort of trouble did she cause here?"

Charlie glanced at Hannah, sizing her up. She looked anxious and nervous, eyes darting towards the back door. "Look, I don't mind it's just… my boss has this thing towards angels."

"So I gathered," Hannah replied, folding her arms across her chest and fixing the other woman with a stoic gaze. "I'm not here to make trouble. I just want to know why my sister was here."

"She played games," Charlie said, shrugging. "This is a game store so… this is sort of what happens here."

Castiel sighed, sensing the slightly biting tone and a hint of animosity from Charlie. "Look, I didn't know your boss was here; we can leave," he offered. "I just thought you might be able to tell Hannah about her sister."

"She came here every Friday night to play a tabletop game," Charlie explained as she led the two of them through the store, winding through the aisles of comics and games until they reached a particular end cap near the very back of the store. "This one, I believe."

Castiel glanced at the game. _Angel Wars, _he sighed. He glanced at Hannah. "This is a game depicting a fictional war in which the humans defeated and killed all the angels," he told Hannah. "It's pretty popular in this area; it's based on a series of comic books depicting the same sort of thing."

Hannah seemed disturbed as she ran a finger over the graphic box. A massive war in which an army of humans was shown with angel blades and a mass of dead angels at their feet. Realization dawned in Hannah's eyes, and Castiel worried he might have shown her too much. The recognition of life here was hard to swallow if you weren't someone who had seen it every day of your life.

"Hannah," Castiel began cautiously as he and Charlie watched her. Slowly, she turned to face them, a blank look on her face.

"You're telling me my sister fantasized about killing her own kind?" she scoffed with disbelief. "Is that what goes on here?"

"It's just a game," Charlie protested with a shrug. "But I think you can probably imagine why it would be popular."

Hannah scoffed, and Castiel sighed, coming forward to touch her shoulder, "come on let's go," he urged as he ushered her back towards the entrance to the shop. Once outside, Hannah glanced around them, as if noticing the humans for the first time. Doubt crossed her blue eyes as Castiel brought her back to the jeep and turned to face her.

"Do you want me to take you home?" he offered cautiously. He found himself disappointed at the prospect, he'd hoped to show her around, but this wasn't what he'd hoped. This dose of reality so abrupt and sudden was no doubt overwhelming.

Hannah took a deep, shaky breath, but to Castiel's surprise, she shook her head. "No," she replied, keeping her gaze to the floor. "I want to keep going. Does that woman's attitude prevail among most humans here?"

"Actually, that's pretty tame," Castiel admitted. "Charlie isn't usually so standoffish, but after your sister died, we've had a few incidents of angels coming into shops and harassing people they thought she might have been involved with here. It's made people a little on edge."

Hannah blinked. "I hadn't heard that," she said. "My father didn't seem too concerned over her death, only that he felt it was influenced by her time here."

Castiel thought about where they could go next. He didn't want to frighten her, and her first bite of humanity beyond what she saw at the college was having a strong effect on her. "Come on, let's walk," he offered. "If you feel uncomfortable let me know, okay?"

"I'm sure I'll feel very uncomfortable," she admitted as she walked beside him down the sidewalk, away from the jeep. "But I want to see everything. No matter how uncomfortable it is. I… I _need_ to know."

Castiel admired her bravery. For someone who had led such a sheltered life as she had, he had expected her to want to leave and never come back. But she wasn't what he thought she was. She was more than just curious; she wanted to understand what she saw. She knew- just as he did- that her kind was the root cause of the problems she saw here and instead of wanting to remain in her sheltered world, she was visibly moved by what she saw.

Castiel felt a warm wash of emotion blossoming in the core of his gut as he walked along. Hannah's bravery inspired him, made him realize why he lived here in the first place and why he'd never lived anywhere else. No one else in his life, past or present, had ever touched him so profoundly as he felt moved right now. He planned to show her everything, _everything_ about his life here — even the secret he hadn't revealed to her quite yet.


End file.
